Question about the NID

On the customer side of the NID, I have the small modules with the RJ jack and plug for each line.

On the top module (the one we're using), I have dial tone at the jack when I plug in a corded phone. However, a friend brought a butt set over and can't get dial tone on the terminals where the house wiring connects.

I guess anything can fail, but have these been known to fail when there hasn't been any sort of traumatic event (lightning, etc.)? Working one clear day and not the next.

Also, is this module my responsibility since it's on the customer side of the NID, or do I get the telco out here to check and replace (risking the No Problem Found charge)?

There is a second unused module in there. Do you see any problems with me either swapping it with the one on top, or swapping the telco pairs inside their side of the NID so my line is going to the lower module? Both would require me to get into the "forbidden" territory but we've peeked in there already and it looks very straight-forward.

Sorry if I haven't described things clearly. Thanks for the help.

 

I'm a bit confused. The jack is normally what connects to the house wiring, usually by means of a short jumper to another set of terminals or a punch down block that connects the in-house field wiring. Is there nothing normally connected to the top biscuit's jack?

Also, if you're drawing dial tone through the jack on the biscuit it shouldn't be possible to have no dial tone at the terminals inside the biscuit. The jack is connected to the terminals, and the telco line is connected to the same terminals.

Don't call the telco yet. Can you upload pix to a host site like photobucket.com and post the links here?

 

that's the way its supposed to work , you raise the cover it disconnects the house wiring for troubleshooting

what he should have been testing with the butt set is the wiring coming out of the closed cover on the line



the NID is telco property and regulated the only thing the customer is allowed to do is connect to it and use the test jack

one other thing to test is the screw terminals with the house wiring disconnected and the cover closed , just connect some jumpers to the screw terminals to test

a short in the house wiring will kill the dialtone

if you have dial tone at the test jack but not coming out the screw terminals with the cover closed then it is the telcos responsibility to repair or replace and yes they do go bad

 

Well, we got it working on the bottom biscuit (thanks for the right word, Rick). Just went in to the telco side and brought their pair for our line down to the lower biscuit. Hooked up the house wiring to the terminals on that biscuit and now all is back in order.

Rick, you had it right from my poor description; I was talking about the jack where you can test with a phone, and the short jumper plug, and the terminals to which you attach the cable going into the house.

Thanks for the help, Mangoman. This particular NID just has a plastic cover on the customer side with no sort of switch, so one can check dial tone at the terminals after the jumper is installed in the jack. Anyway, good to have confirmation that these things can fail. It looks like I have one that just gave up the ghost, either coincidentally or due to something we were doing in the house.

So, the wrapup question now is: do I put things back the way they were and call the telco to replace the defective biscuit (or they may just do the same thing we did and move service to the working biscuit), or do I put a note inside my side of the NID documenting the change for the next owner or technician, or just let sleeping dogs lie?

Thanks for the valuable advice.

 

For the record, Jimmy, "biscuit" is a nickname. The proper name is Modular Telephone Surface Mount Jack. It looks like this:


Image courtesy NewTechindustries.com

I was guessing that's what you had. If you have something different, please upload a photo to photobucket.com and post the link here.

It's a gray area whose responsibility it is to R&R. The telco could have installed it, or it could have been installed by the builder (or homeowner, or electrician, or private phone tech) to give the telco people something to connect to from their NID. The jacks can be purchased anywhere. If it was me, I'd just replace the bad one with a new one, being careful not to short any of the wiring, and making sure the wires terminated at the proper terminals. If there's writing on the cover (like a phone number), use the old cover.

 

Okay, I see I really had problems describing the set up. This looks like something that would go inside the house rather than outside.

I was able to hijack some photos that are representative of what mine looks like (below), and found someone calling these "wiring bridges" or "customer bridge modules" (the piece with the jack and terminals). It's one of these that I believe has gone south on me.

Thanks!

 

not at all "gray area " a NID is telco property , is regulated and any repair or replacement should be made by telecom employees

why not call the telephone company its a no charge repair

the issue in moving the wires yourself (located behind the door that says something like "telephone personnel only "
) is in maintaining proper grounding